Baboons are taking over Cape Town

Baboons are taking over area’s of Cape Town if people are careless with their waste. The inhabitants of Cape Town do not manage their waste efficiently so they could see their homes and neighbourhoods becoming fast-food outlets for baboons.

The City of Cape Town warned for the wild monkey’s and the confrontation with people. The baboons are nog easily frightend and can be aggresive. Residents in Cape Town areas with baboon populations should ensure they have baboon-proof bins provided by the city. Doors should be locked and windows closed when baboons are in the area.

To survive, the baboons trawl through waste bins, loiter at rubbish dumps, steal from shops and markets and prowl around the picnic sites. Some are such practised scavengers that they know exactly when the rubbish carts will be arriving with fresh supplies at the dump.As a precaution home owners could also install burglar bars with very small gaps on windows that were usually kept open. Food should not be left on display inside the house, such as a bowl of fruit on a window sill.

From town hall came the advise to keep a hosepipe close by because water is effective in chasing away baboons. This specie is a protected animal, so its not allowed to kill or harm baboons. Some people use pepper spray to defend themselve against an invading troop of baboons in their homes. It is not sure if this is legal.

The baboons have less forest as their natural habitat these days. The more trees are chopped, the more monkey’s are coming into cities. The same problem occurred a few weeks ago in Johannesburg. Baboons were crawling into the suburbs in search of new living space with food. Troops of baboons can be dangerous for childeren if they don’t keep their distance to the monkey’s. These animals are very teritorial and protect the food they find. So never try to take way food they are trying to steal.